


You Can Tell Me

by lord_loveandstuff



Series: Clayleb Week '19 [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Body Worship, Falling In Love, Injury, M/M, Post-Battle, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 21:04:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21326665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lord_loveandstuff/pseuds/lord_loveandstuff
Summary: Caduceus worries more about the others than he does himself during a battle, which can sometimes hurt him more than he thinks it will.Caleb, on the other hand, starts catching feelings for his tall friend.Clayleb Week Day 2: Revolution - Battle Couple
Relationships: Caduceus Clay/Caleb Widogast
Series: Clayleb Week '19 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536838
Comments: 1
Kudos: 68





	You Can Tell Me

**Author's Note:**

> Aye! This is messy, but it was fun! Unlike the last one, this part does not have a specific time or location from this campaign, so feel free to use your imagination!

The painful scream of the final gnoll rang out into the air. Its burning body fell onto the bloody ground with a soft pound. Caleb breathed heavily as he watched the flames overtake the gnoll, leaving the creature nothing but ashes. A large pack snuck up behind the group and attacked viciously. They had some kind of lust for blood in their eyes. Caleb turned to the rest of the Mighty Nien. Everyone was about the same state as him, out of breath and badly wounded. Thankfully no one was unconscious, but Beauregard did look like she could at any moment as she stumbled over her footing. Caduceus and Jester were both doing their best to help everyone as much as they could, but it was clear they were running low on magical energy. A gentle flash of light green and pink entered his peripheral vision as he felt his body become lighter. The familiar feeling of Caduceus’ healing spell only lasted for a few seconds before a stinging pain returned. Despite the pain still being there, Caleb was grateful that it was significantly less. He gave a reassuring smile to the firbolg. 

“I’m all out!” Jester called to the group as her hand left Nott’s shoulder. 

“Same here!” Caduceus announced. 

A disappointed frown was present on his face. Caleb reached out and gave his shoulder a small pat. “Thank you, Caduceus, for all your help.” He only pulled his hand away once he saw a sweet smile come back. They locked eyes and Caleb felt his body seize up. It felt as if Caduceus’ eyes stopped time around them and kept him in place. He quickly turned back to the others, hiding a blush with his hand. “We should rest! I can start setting up the hut.” When everyone nodded and agreed, Caleb sat down and began retrieving the components for the spell.

“Damn gnolls!” Beau cursed between clenched teeth as she leaned on her staff for support. “Bet those fuckers were following us and waiting to strike.”

“Would not surprise me. Caduceus, didn’t you say they passed us by earlier?” Fjord asked. He kept an eye out around them as he helped Beau sit down. 

Caduceus rubbed the side of his torso as he thought. “Yeah, they seemed to be going east of our direction. I kept an eye out for them, but I guess they escaped my view.” He looked at the forest around them. The trees and bushes were too large to see what was within and the sun was quickly setting. Any creature could hide easily, even if they were as large as a gnoll. It was mostly silent, with the only noises being a few cicadas and Caleb’s fires slowly dying out. “I’m sorry, I-”

“Don’t start all that Deusy.” Beau waved her hand lazily. She had a warning tone, but Caduceus was with the group long enough to know it was her version of caring. Caduceus nodded before giving his side another rub. 

A minute passed before they heard Caleb shout something out loud that sounded Zemnian. He was furiously searching the bags that usually held his spell components. “Everything alright Caleb?” Nott asked while approaching him. 

He cursed again before closing the bag with more force than necessary. “They took the bead.”

Nott tilted her head to the side. “What? What do you mean ‘took the bead’?” 

“The spell for the hut requires a crystal bead. I keep it in a small pouch with my other components, but I guess it fell out when that gnoll charged at me, the one that ran away. It must have taken the pouch.” 

Beau began standing up as Caleb finished his explanation. She almost fell as she stumbled to maintain balance with her staff. “Come on Nott! We can go out, search for the gnoll and grab Caleb’s stolen shit.”

Fjord immediately reached up and grabbed Beau’s forearm. “Oh no, you don’t. You can barely stand, let alone go out and fight another one of those creatures.” The two locked eyes intensely. They stared before Beau closed her eyes and sat back down, surrendering to Fjord during their wordless battle. Nott, who was more than ready to join Beau, frowned and turned back to Caleb. 

Nott grabbed Caleb’s hand, holding it tighter as she felt the heat from the fire spell still cooling down. “But I can go! I was able to hide most of the fight. The gnolls barely saw or attacked me. I can go and get it!”

“Nott,” Jester warned. “You don’t know where their den is, it could be hours away! And you don’t know how many are there. There could be dozens more just waiting for us to find them and do another surprise attack!” Her arms waved wildly in the air before letting her tired body fall limply onto the grass. 

A frustrated sigh left Nott as she chewed the inside of her cheek. The group, used to having to do this before, split each other up into groups to prepare a camp. Fjord, Nott, and Jester gathered wood for the campfire while Beau, Caleb, and Caduceus set out the bedrolls and silver thread. Once a fire was started and the group convened, Caduceus began brewing some tea with the help of Caleb. Nott and Beau were already fast asleep as exhaustion quickly caught up to them. Jester happily accepted a cup as she doodled in her journal, while Fjord requested to have it left next to him while he practiced meditating. Caduceus and Caleb found themselves next to each other as Caleb organized his supplies, ensuring that only the pouch was stolen. Caduceus seemed almost hypnotized by Caleb’s systematic method of organization. Time passed by before the two men were the only ones awake and watching the camp. 

“Okay. I still have everything else on my person. When we get to the next town I’ll find and replace the missing items.” Caleb said softly as he began placing all of his equipment back into his bags.

Caduceus nodded as he took a sip of tea. “I have a few extra coins if you need it.”

“I’ll be fine,” Caleb replied. A soft smile crept onto the wizard’s face that he attempted to hide. “Thank you though.” There was a second of comfortable silence before Caleb watched Caduceus rub his side again. It had been worrying Caleb, and Caduceus seemed in some level of pain while helping with preparations. “Is your side okay, Caduceus?”

“I hope so.” Caleb frowned at the other’s choice of words. Caduceus removed his jacket and began untying his armored chest plate. Caleb looked away with an almost absent blush. He would have left to give Caduceus some privacy if the firbolg did not let out a small hiss of pain. When Caleb looked back towards his friend, there was a large bloody gash on the side of his torso going up to his ribs. A gnoll claw seemed to have gone just under the chest plate and opened the skin. It looked pretty serious too. 

“Caduceus!” Caleb shouted in a whisper, carefully not to attract attention despite wanting to. “How-Why didn’t you heal yourself?” 

The firbolg swallowed as he looked at the wound. “I want to make sure everyone else was taken care of first before I ran out of spells. I guess I didn’t realize how bad my injury was.” Caduceus gave a weak smile.

Caleb shook his head as he searched back in his bag. He remembered he still had a few bandages left from when he would wrap his arms. Seeing this, Caduceus silently scooched closer to the wizard, almost touching shoulders. Once Caleb pulled out the wrappings he went to work with the injury. Caduceus kept his arms lifted up to make it easier for Caleb to go around his torso. The firbolg was pretty thin, concerningly so, letting Caleb easily reach around. He did not notice Caduceus had closed his eyes until he finished wrapping. 

Neither man said anything, even as Caleb pulled the bandage slightly to ensure its tightness would not be damaging or uncomfortable. Caleb knew he should go wake up Nott for watch and let Caduceus rest, but his hands didn’t want to leave the firbolg. His fur was soft like a warm blanket on a winter’s night. Caleb wanted nothing more than to bury his face in it and fall asleep. Traveling along the spine, the wizard began silently counting each bone he felt and tracing small scars. He wanted to explore more of Caduceus’ body. He wanted to know if the man was so soft everywhere else. He wondered if Caduceus felt the same, or was his body too ruined?

Caduceus’ body shifted, causing Caleb to jump in place and almost shout, but he kept it in. “Everything alright back there?” the firbolg’s voice had a deeper rumble than usual due to his exhaustion.

Caleb nodded despite knowing Caduceus couldn’t see him. “J-Ja. Just get your rest. In the morning make sure to heal yourself and I’ll assist you in removing the wrappings.”

Caduceus turned to face him. There was a sweet smile on his face that made Caleb’s heart pound heavier. “Thank you, Mr. Caleb. I’m sorry for troubling you.”

“It was no issue, my friend.” 

Caduceus carefully got to his feet and went over to his bed. Caleb watched as Caduceus eventually fell asleep. The man placed his hand over his heart as he focused on his breathing. It took a long minute before his heart and breathing were at a steadier pace. Caleb made his way to Nott to take the rest of the watch time with her. He needed to stop these feelings before they caused things to turn terribly. They’re going to hurt him. They’ll only hurt.


End file.
